The Executive Board of the Austrian Financial Market Authority (FMA), Helmut Ettl and Klaus Kumpmüller, welcome the proposal by Austria’s Minister of Finance, Hartwig Löger, to subject cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin to regulation and supervision. It is therefore particularly important, to implement the political agreement that has already been reached at a European level as quickly as possible throughout Europe and to subject alternative currencies to strict provisions in relation to the prevention of money laundering. Doing so would create consistent legal definitions, and would thereby prevent providers from being able to exploit slacker regulation in other Member States. The proposal to subject Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs), i.e. corporate financing by issuing digital “tokens”, to the obligation to produce a prospectus and an electronic approval process by the FMA, will also decisively improve legal clarity and investor protection.
“As digital currencies are by and large an Internet-based phenomenon, where they are offered irrespective of national boundaries, cross-border cooperation is also particularly important for regulation and supervision,” the FMA’s Executive Board remarks. “We therefore in particular support the approach that addresses such issues at European level. We are of course willing to provide our expertise to the ‘FinTech Board of Regulators’ that Finance Minister Löger has proposed.”
Journalists may address further enquiries to:
Klaus Grubelnik (FMA Media Spokesperson):
+43/(0)1/24959-6006
+43/(0)676/882 49 516